King James Bible 1685

5C King James Bible, London: Printed by the Assigns of John Bill Deceased: and by Henry Hills and Thomas Newcomb, 1685. 

Notes

Bound with the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the use of the Church of England. Together with the Psalter of Psalms of David printed as they are to be sung or said in Church. 

The King James Bible (1611), also known as the Authorized Version, was commissioned by King James I of England to resolve conflicts among existing English translations and unify the Church of England. Over 50 scholars worked on it, using earlier translations like the Tyndale Bible and Geneva Bible as sources. Renowned for its poetic and majestic language, it became the most influential English Bible, shaping religious, cultural, and literary traditions for centuries.

Description

Full Contemporary moroccan black leather binding with gilt decorative elements on front and back boards with fleur-de-lys at corners, tulip motifs sprouting from an ornate decorative base. Enclosed within is another central panel with triple fillet and lavishly tooled boarder with many foliage motifs and initials D. H. E. In the center. Six raised bands with lavishly decorated compartments in gilt. Marbled endpapers, amoral bookplate of Rev. Henry Deane on front pastedown. Minor wear in places with scuffing to lower corner and a short tear to head of spine with foot of spine chipped. Internally very good. Binding has possible attribution to Richard Sedgley or Roger Bartlett.

The title page to the Prayer Book has the inscription “George Deane the gift of his mother.” The first three blank preliminary pages provide in manuscript, details of the Deane family from 1737 to 1894 and so presumably the inhales relate to one of them. Loosely inserted is a letter from Henry Deane dated May 29 1862 noting the “Death of Tom Caswall. At some point the Bible was passed to the Caswall branch of the family of which was Sir Hugh Dowding the Commander-in-Cheif o Fighter Command in WWII as noted in the newspaper cuttings loosely inserted.